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Jeter triumphant: How I got that shot
Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson has won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York for best sports photo, showing a triumphant Derek Jeter in his final home game at Yankee Stadium last year.
We asked Jacobson, a longtime baseball fan, what she recalled of the winning moment.
“I think it was the best and most memorable moment in baseball that I’ve ever witnessed, both as a fan of the game and as a photographer,” she said.
She continued:
“That last gameeveryone knew it was all about Derek Jeter, so everyone was focused on him morethan anyone or anything else. Win or lose, the outcome of the game made nodifference to the Yankees’ playoff situation. They weren’t going no matterwhat. But I think everyone in that stadium, journalists included, wanted to seethe Yankees win so Jeter could leave on a high note. Even if you’re not aYankee fan, Jeter was and still is highly respected and loved in the game …
“As the bottomof the ninth inning approached, I saw on the scoreboard that Jeter would be thethird batter up and thought, ‘No. Could it really be?’ And when the leadoffbatter got on base and ended up at second on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Gardner,I thought, ‘Wow, just what if? How cool would that be?’
“There was noother story that night. All anyone cared about was how Jeter was going tofinish his career. And it seemed like the whole thing had been set up for astorybook ending …
“As Jeter stoodin the batter’s box, every photographer had their lens trained on him.Regardless of what he did, I was going to stay on him. As he swung at the firstpitch, slapping a single to right field, I shot the swing and followed him downthe first base line. It was clear from his body language that it was a hit.Without taking my eyes off Jeter, I thought to myself, ‘That’s a hit, a runwill score, Yankees win, when is he going to react?! What’s he going to do?!’
“The whole playseemed to take forever to unfold. Jeter went all the way to first withoutreacting. In baseball, as with any sport, you just can’t fully predict wherethe picture will be or how it will go down.
“It wasn’t untilafter he had rounded first base and saw the runner safe at home that he finallyturned my way and jumped. I was on him the whole time, and as he leaped in theair I fired the camera. It all suddenly looked like it was happening in slowmotion. When I saw the replay on TV later that evening, it all happened sofast. But in my frame, it was slow motion. I know every other photographer inthe third base photo bay with me was shooting, but I only heard my shuttergoing off and nothing else until his feet were back on the ground with histeammates running to mob him. I had these mixed emotions, one as a photographerwho’s making a nice picture and knows I have it and the other as a fan who waselated for Derek Jeter. I think everyone in the stadium went home thatnight feeling good, even if you weren’t a Yankee fan.”
Jacobson will be honored along with AP journalists Jennifer Peltz and Colleen Long, who together won the spot news award for their report on the shooting deaths of two New York police officers. Peltz also will claim the feature prize, for her story about the daring escape of two men from Clinton Correctional Facility last summer, when the Newswomen’s Club of New York presents the awards on Nov. 12.